


You Gotta Swim

by Thatsmyphrase



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: AU, Angst, Beaches, Bennguin - Freeform, Bennguin Quarantine Fest 2020, Cute, Dallas Stars, Drama, Established Relationship, Fluff, Funny, Hockey, Hurt/Comfort, Jamie benn - Freeform, LGBTQ Character, M/M, Magic, Mythology - Freeform, One Shot, Romance, Sickfic, Soulmates, Surprises, The little mermaid - Freeform, Tyler loves Jamie, mermaid, merman, tyler seguin - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-19
Updated: 2020-07-19
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:41:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25386223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thatsmyphrase/pseuds/Thatsmyphrase
Summary: It’s the middle of the night and Tyler finds himself hours away from his home and Jamie with no recollection of how he got there.And why do his knees hurt?
Relationships: Jamie Benn/Tyler Seguin
Comments: 8
Kudos: 33





	You Gotta Swim

**Author's Note:**

> I've been wanting to write for hockey because a story on here actually got me into hockey. Now I'm a Dallas Stars fan. Didn't see any fics like this so I thought I would write one.
> 
> So, please enjoy. 
> 
> Thank you to @Eak1mouse on Tumblr for Betaing for me. They are awesome!
> 
> @thisismeroy thank you for the Spanish help!

****

**...Can’t breathe**

**Someone help...**

**Someone has to help me**

**Jamie...**

**Anyone**

**Help...**

**I can't-**

Tyler shoots up and sputters out a cough and some water with it. He touches his burning throat and tries to inhale deeply. He notices now that he’s shaking, though he’s not sure if it’s because it’s windy and a little cold, or the fact that he feels like he almost died. He’s guessing it’s probably a little bit of both. His hands and now his neck are covered with grit.

Is that sand?

He can barely see anything, but he hears the familiar crash of waves.

How?

As he’s trying to get his breath even again, his head clears a bit too. He knows that he’s cold and wet. He knows that Jamie isn’t with him. And he knows that he’s naked.

What the hell?

The last thing he remembers is being in bed with Jamie and feeling warm.

He brings his knees up, noticing the ache in them and wraps his arms around himself as the shivers roll through him. His eyes finally start to adjust and he sees a pile of something dark. He crawls to it and the dull pain turns into sharp stinging ones on his knees.

He’s relieved when the pile that he was seeing isn't something dead, but actually his shorts. Nothing else, but it’s a start. He’s extra relieved when he finds them dry, but a little less so when he finds no phone in the pockets.

He dips his hands in the water to get the sand off and notices something gleaming on his wrist. He examines it further and realizes it's a fish scale.

Huh…

He tries to wipe it off, but it won’t budge. He takes it between his fingers to pull it off and the action rips his skin off with it.

What...

The saltwater makes the sting 10 times worse.

He walks a little more to find something that would at least indicate what beach he’s on.

He walks for a long while. The sun is starting to peep through the horizon when he finally sees a guy and a girl with surfboards and wetsuits. They look about the same age as him, and he turns on his charm.

When he gets their attention, he slicks his hair back, grimacing at the gritty feeling of it. He should’ve washed his hair too. “Hey, I got completely hammered last night and my friends decided to play a little trick on me. Mind if I borrow one of your guy’s phones?”

The guy, who has about a few inches on him, narrows his eyes and stares down at Tyler. “¿Cómo estamos seguros de que no corremos peligro a tu alrededor? ¿O que eres un asesino? ¡O un psicópata!”

Before Tyler gets a chance to ask him what he said, the girl with the curly hair taps the guy with her surfboard hard. “¡Pendejo! I'm sure he’s not a serial killer. I’m sorry about my brother. He's just grumpy I made him wake up at five in the morning to catch some waves.”

5:00 am…

She offers her phone up to him.

With a thanks, he gives her his biggest smile.

Tyler winces at the next question. “One more thing, what beach is this again?”

The guy answers this time with a laugh. “Seems like your friends really did a number on you, huh? We’re at Galveston beach.”

Galveston… There's no way he got here by himself because it’s about four hours away from his and Jamie’s house.

It rings three times before he hears a groggy hello.

“Jamie, can you come pick me up?”

“Ty?” He hears something rustling. “Why aren’t you in bed?”

“Jamie, I’m-”

“Are you okay? Say something about hockey if you’re not-”

“Jamie, relax, I’m okay. I’m just at- I’m at Galveston beach. And this is not a joke. Can you please come get me?”

Jamie sighs deeply. “Fuck Tyler… of course I can.” Tyler smiles as he hears some shuffling on the other end. “It’ll take me some time, but I’m coming.”

“Sorry… Jamie.”

“Yeah… okay. Try to find a restaurant or something.”

“That would be great, but I can’t find my shoes or my shirt.”

“Jesus. Okay well, be safe until I get there.”

“I love you, and thank you.”

“Love you too.”

He hangs up and thanks the pair.

He puts his hands in his pocket and rocks on his feet. “Hey, listen. I’m not sure if you guys like hockey or anything, but I can get you guys close seats for free if you want. I’m Tyler Seguin from the Dallas Stars.”

The girl cocks her head for a moment and furrows her brows, “I thought you looked familiar. Um, yeah sure. That would be great.”

He gave them his manager’s number and told them to say, “number 91 sent us.”

They part ways and Tyler finds some shade since he figures the sun would start to make an appearance soon. It has been a hotter February than usual, and Dallas heat is no joke.

He decides to build a sandcastle as he thinks about the fact that there’s a huge chunk of time missing from his memory. How had he gotten here? He has so many questions. Why does his mouth taste like saltwater? Why does he feel like he was drowning before he woke up? How is he four hours away from his house?

He hasn't had an instance of sleepwalking in his entire life. Hell of a first time to start doing so. He's hours away from his house, and there is no way he could have just walked that far by himself and without his shoes.

He takes a break from putting on the seashells to his castle to check his feet. Nothing. No cuts, no sores, no bruises. Jamie’s going to think he’s crazy when he tells him everything.

Maybe he is a little crazy…

Tyler’s almost finished with making a bridge over the deepwater circle to his sandcastle when his favorite person walks up.

“What are you, five?”

Without looking back, Tyler gives him the finger with a grin. “Took you long enough, what did you go 20 miles below the speed limit the whole way?”

Jamie laughs. “Hey now, fuck you. You're the one who woke me up, man. I was dead asleep. You're lucky I didn't die coming here because of how tired I am.”

Tyler stands up and turns to face Jamie whose hair is all over the place. Tyler brushes the sand off his hands and runs his fingers through it. Jamie puts his hand in his pocket and hands Tyler the Dallas Stars water bottle he’s been holding.

Tyler takes it gratefully and ends up drinking half the bottle. He wipes the excess water off his mouth. “Thanks, I think I was starting to get a headache. Look, man, before you ask, I’m not sure what the fuck happened. I just woke up at the beach, naked before I found my shorts. Good thing I found that or you would have been picking me up at the police station instead. And I don't have my phone.”

“Your phone’s in the car actually.” Jamie squints at him. And frowns. “Have you been drinking?”

After finishing the rest of the bottle, Tyler responded with, “Dude no.”

“Drugs?”

“Oh, fuck you.”

Jamie looks down at his feet. “You’re four hours away from the house… and you left in the middle of the night… were you with someone else then?”

“What the- no.” Tyler puts down the water bottle and pulls Jamie’s face to his and gives him a slow kiss, running his other hand along the base of his neck. “I love you and I’d never do that to you. You know this.”

Jamie silently nods. “I’m sorry, I just- I know you would never do that to me. But this whole thing is weird.”

Tyler nods and wraps his arms around Jamie’s middle and looks up at him with a grin. “I missed you,” Tyler says with a smile.

“It’s only been like four hours,” Jamie deadpans.

“But four hours away from my big... strong... sexy hockey player is a lot.”

Tyler watches as Jamie rolls his eyes and the blush spreads from Jamie’s face to his neck.

“Oh yeah, your car’s missing too.”

“Well shit. At least I didn't walk here all by myself. Hopefully, it’ll be easy to find...”

Tyler has Jamie take a picture of him and his sandcastle before they leave the beach. They get to the car a little bit later and he’s already feeling the Dallas heat.

Tyler rubs his neck. “Jesus… it’s going to be a hot day.”

Jamie laughs as they open the car door and get into his truck. “Hopefully it’ll be the last day of this weird weather. And you really don't remember anything?”

Tyler shakes his head in response. He tells Jamie about his whole morning from the scale thing, to the brother and sister duo. Jamie doesn’t call him crazy, but he’s probably thinking it.

They stop for breakfast at a drive-thru not even an hour into the trip. When they get home, Gerry jumps on him. Marshall and Cash greet him too, from their beds.

“I reek, I’m gonna go shower.” Tyler gives Jamie a kiss before heading upstairs. In the bathroom, he finally gets to look at himself in the mirror. He takes a survey over his face, but nothing seems out of the ordinary. He doesn’t feel any different.

He takes his shorts off and turns on the water to the shower.

When he takes a look at the wrist where he picked off that scale, there's nothing there anymore.

What the hell...

He rubs over his arm thinking that maybe he got the wrong wrist.

But wait, no. Jamie said something about it too.

His mind starts wandering back to the ocean.

He doesn’t remember anything still, but he remembers feeling at peace.

Home.

Suddenly, his knees buckle and he lands on the ground with a thud.

Tyler is about to stand up again when he feels a seething pain in each digit. He watches in horror as his fingers and nails slowly start to become longer. He tries to stand up again, but his knees feel like they’re locked together. He whimpers and writhes in pain as he feels the bones in his legs breaking and growing longer, the skin fusing together. His back arches in, and he feels the ribs breaking from within. Every crack makes him fold over more. There's a searing pain as he feels something growing out of his spine. He lets his eyes shut tightly, and all he can focus on is his heartbeat.

When he comes to, he's on his side and the shower is still running. He twists his body and something makes a small thud. He finally looks down. His legs are gone and in place of them is a tail.

“Oh my god!”

Holy fucking shit.

Tyler feels like he can't breathe, and he feels nauseous at the same time.

He gets a glimpse of his fingers that are now long. Like really fucking long. He opens his hands to find teal almost translucent skin between his fingers. His pointy fingernails are also tinted with this blue-green color. His eyes glance down at his sides to see three tears where his ribs are. Every time he breathes, they too breathe. He touches them and winces.

Holy… are those gills or something?

He goes to touch the tail and it twitches.

“What the fuck!”

His tail is blue and green with gold in the middle. From what Tyler can see, there are also two fins halfway down the sides of the tail and a big fin at the bottom. The scales extend to his hips, where they slowly fade to the color of his skin. Tyler feels them around his neck. His face. His arms. His back. Everywhere. His tats on his arm are littered with the scales too. He swallows and notices that his teeth are sharper somehow.

He's so fucked.

He’s trying to maneuver himself to the tub, so he can sit up when he hears the door opening. He’s about to say don’t come in, but it’s too late.

“I figured we could shower- what the f….”

“Jamie, I can explain…” Tyler looks down at himself again. “Actually… I don't think I can, but I think I may be a mermaid-”

“Man.”

“What?”

“Mer… man. Maid is a lady…”

Tyler rolls his eyes. “Well sorry if I’m not an expert on that kind of thing, like you are.”

“I'm not an-”

“Look we can talk about this all you want, but please get me in some type of water.”

Jamie doesn't move from his stance at the door. “I don't really feel like trying to find out and being eaten alive. I see those sharp teeth.”

“Jamie, for Christ’s sake, I’m not going to eat you.”

“I-I’ll keep my distance for now. What the hell did you do?”

“What do you mean what did I do? You think I wanted to be like this?”

Jamie points to Tyler’s tail. “You must have touched water or something.”

“No Jamie, that’s the thing. I never even got into the shower. I didn't even have the chance to touch the water! It just fucking- it just happened.”

Jamie still kept his hand on the door handle. “Tyler I- maybe Jordie can help? I can go call- ”

He used his arms to try to get closer to Jamie and watched as he flinched. “NO. Absolutely nobody can know about this right now.” Tyler is realizing that he is now shaking. “Please, Jamie. I feel like my skin is on fire.”

Jamie’s face starts to soften at that and he slowly makes his way over to Tyler. “Okay, Ty, I’m coming closer to you-”

“For the last time, I’m not going to eat you.”

When he gets to him, he feels Jamie’s eyes take in all that is Tyler.

Or at least what used to be Tyler.

Jamie doesn’t see any sort of disgust or anything which Tyler is grateful for, but he still can't get a full read on him.

Jamie carefully lifts him up and puts him into the tub. Tyler’s whole tail doesn't fit, which he figured. He’s pretty tall in general, but a lot taller with the tail. He watches as Jamie turns on the faucet to just the cold water.

Tyler smirks. “A little warmth would be nice.”

“Sorry, I didn't want to boil you alive or anything.”

Tyler frowns. “Gross, don't say that, dude.” Tyler touches his “gills” again and grimaces. “These gill things are kind of gross. But wait… gills...hold on-”

Before Jamie can respond, Tyler already has his head underwater. He holds his breath until he realizes that he doesn't have to and opens his mouth. It feels like he’s going to choke for a moment, then he begins to breathe like he normally would and finds that it feels just the same. He stays there for a long while, testing out this new body. And holy fuck. He’s breathing underwater. Has he always been able to do this and just didn't know? No, that couldn't be the case because, in the 2nd grade, he had almost drowned until a lifeguard saved him. This was something totally new.

It’s freaking awesome.

He sees Jamie’s face through the water and can't believe how beautiful he is. Tyler rises out of the water and wipes the water out of his eyes.

“How was it?”

“It was cool. First I thought I wouldn’t be able to do it for a second, but it feels just like breathing underwater.”

Jamie shakes his head and smirks. “Right… so descriptive,” Jamie says with an eye roll.

Tyler gives him a splash. Because that’ll show him.

Jamie folds his arms on the side of the tub, and Tyler tries to wipe away the little water droplets from under Jamie’s eyes. Tyler watches as Jamie’s face turns red. “Hey Ty, can I ask you a question?”

“Uh-oh. Not if it’s a stupid one.”

“Shut-up,” Jamie says with a devious look in his eyes. “I can ask a stupid question if I want.”

“Okay shoot.”

“So like...do you like… have a dick anymore?”

“What the fuck? Or course I do.” Tyler looks down and all he sees is tail. “I have to I- it’s probably under all this tail.”

“You think if I start like-”

“No Jamie, You’re not doing anything to my tail you sick fuck. I got a dick.”

“I was just wondering, jeez.”

“Yeah yeah.”

“So, do you think that’s why you went to the ocean? Because you're a merman? Siren?”

“I like merman. Siren sounds creepy. And I have a pretty good idea that’s why I just started wandering.” Tyler smooths his fingers over his tail. “Maybe my mom would know something about this all.”

“You think I- could I like, touch it?”

Tyler smirks. “My tail? Yeah, go ahead.” Tyler watches as Jamie slowly runs his fingers down his new tail. Feeling each of his fins until he gets to the end fins. It tickles and before they both know it, his tail is flipping out of the tub and smacking Jamie. Tyler puts his hand over his mouth in shock, but he can't stop from laughing. “Dude, I’m so sorry. You okay?”

Jamie rubs at his now red cheek. “Yeah. That was my fault, I know how ticklish you are. Just didn't think it-” Jamie makes a hand gesture to his tail. “That it would feel the same.”

“You and me both.” Tyler brings his hands up to Jamie’s neck and feels his pulse quicken. “Thanks for not running out on me.” He looks away from Tyler with a smile. “You think you can get me out of this tub, I kind of want my legs back.”

It takes a half an hour, but they’re able to get Tyler dry enough that his legs start coming back. The change back is a little less painful, but only by a little. This time his skin feels like it’s splitting. His scales are the last thing to go, taking about an hour.

It’s later that night, and Tyler is curled up next to Jamie. “Do you think I’m a freak for having this thing now?”

Jamie turns his head and kisses the top of his head. “I don't think of you as a freak… well, no more than usual.”

Tyler laughs and pinches his sides, curling into him even more.

\-------

It’s now the end of March and nothing that Tyler has done has brought back the tail again.

He’s honestly not really sure if he wants it back.

He’s been playing some really good hockey with Jamie. The Stars have won 3 out of 5 games. The people he met at the beach ended up showing up at the end of February. He gave them each a signed puck.

They were supposed to clinch a spot in the playoffs tonight, but the Blackhawks had been a tad bit better than them and had beat them in the shootout. If Tyler would have fooled the goalie just a little more, he would have won them the game.

He’s sitting there catching his breath when Radulov scoots over and grips his shoulder tightly. “We win big next game and clinch that spot. You, me, Klinger, and Big Benn out for steak then.”

That made Tyler instantly nauseous. He hadn't had red meat ever since he had gotten sick from it two different days two weeks ago.

“How about we just go out for some sushi or something else?”

Radulov gives him a shake and says, “sounds good.”

That night, it’s his turn to do media.

He’s hot and sweaty still, but a guy reporter in a suit shoves a mic in his face anyway. “What could you have done differently tonight to clinch that spot.”

Um...win?

Tyler bit his lip. “Yeah, the other team definitely gave it their all tonight. I guess next time what we have to do is get those pucks deep in the net. They had a lot of energy tonight. You know, we just got to play our game next time. ”

“Now, are you excited about the prospects of clinching a spot in the playoffs?”

Jesus… Was this the guy’s first day?

Tyler itches his nose. “Uh, yeah we’re definitely going to be on our game next time. I um-” There it was. That familiar pain in his knees again. “We’ll be ready to clinch that-” Tyler took a few deep breaths as the pain intensified. “Excuse me, I gotta do something real quick.”

“No problem. Thank you, Tyler.”

Before he hears the rest of the reporter, he’s already in the bathroom locking the door behind him.

Before he knows it, he’s toppling to the ground and landing on his hands and knees. He could feel the skin on his spine stretched as he curved his back.  
No no no no no.

“Don't do this not... now.”

He suddenly felt angry that he wasn’t in charge of his own body anymore. He punched the floor and felt the pain radiate from his knuckles. “Not now!”  
Then suddenly it stops and Tyler feels like he can finally breathe again. He felt his ribs shift back into place with small cracks and he can’t breathe very well. As he stands, the bones in his back straighten up with each pop they gave.

He looks down at his legs and breathes out a sigh of relief when he sees two legs instead of one.

He tries to stand up but his legs are too wobbly still.

“Damnit!” He cursed

He sits there trying to catch his breath.

What the fuck?

When he gets out of the bathroom, Klinger claps him on the shoulder and says, “We will get them next time.”

That night, Tyler decides to finally call his mom about it. He was hoping the whole tail thing wasn't going to happen again, but it did and now he was wondering if someone in the family knew about it. He started off the conversation as vague as possible and didn't think he would end up getting the full legend. It’s like his mom was waiting for him to ask her.

Apparently a long fucking time ago, it started with Tyler’s great-grandpa to the power of five or some shit like that. Well, that dude was a soldier in some war and while he was in the village, he met this woman and they fell in love. Like all good stories start. Well, it wasn’t some ordinary woman, she was a mermaid.

He got pretty badly injured during a siege one night. Like was on his deathbed bad.

That same night, she came in and poured her blood into his mouth (which... gross. Jamie told Tyler that he would leave him if he ever thought about doing that to him) and he was then turned into a mermaid too. They ended up having a few children together too.

And that was a cool story and all, but the only problem with it was that his mom hadn't heard another mer-anyone in the family since she was a little kid herself and even she didn't know much about it.

So Tyler was back to square one.

He watched the little mermaid, but surprisingly that didn't help either.

Shocking.

Though, it did leave Tyler envious of how painless her transformation had been...  
\-------

So it’s May and Tyler isn’t doing well. Hasn't been feeling well since April actually. They are still in the playoffs and game 5 with the Blues is tomorrow.

He hasn’t seen his tail since he tried to shift after the game with the Blackhawks. Which he’s half glad about, because the tail probably wouldn’t have been great on the ice, but now he has been noticing some changes. Some of them are small, like lingering in the shower for too long or upping his water intake, but some make him feel really shitty.

He still can't eat red meat; he’s tried. Sometimes he can’t get a full breath in on the bench. And a lot of the times his body and bones ache. And it’s more than the regular hockey aches that he usually gets. Those he somewhat enjoys and has gotten used to. These dull pains make him want to curl up and nap. Sometimes he does just that after practice.

He hasn’t told Jamie what’s been happening lately. He doesn’t want to worry him.

It’s an hour before practice is supposed to start and Tyler is still in his bed. He’s tried to get out of bed twice, but he just can’t. His phone rings again and he knows it’s Jamie trying to call him again, but he lets it go to voicemail again.

Jamie gets home while Tyler is sleeping. “I knew I should have dragged you out of bed this morning.”

Tyler puts the pillow over his head and Jamie takes it off.

“Jamie-”

“Practice wasn’t the same without you. Tyler, where have you been?”

Tyler sits up and tries to rub the sleep out of his eyes and he smiles. “What do you mean, I’m right here. Last time I checked we both play for the Dallas Stars.”

Jamie doesn't find it funny.

“We clinch a spot in the playoffs, and it’s like you don't even care,” he spits out.

That wakes Tyler up, and he becomes angry because how could Jamie say this?

“Jamie… I care. I’m sorry that for once I’m tired!”

“You've been tired a lot lately. Is it some mer-”

“I haven't seen the tail since that first time.” He brings his knees to his chest and feels a lump in his throat and his eyes sting before a tear spills out. “And it tried to come back that one night with the Hawks but I stopped it and ever since I’ve been feeling really shitty. I don't know what's wrong with me. My whole body aches and my mouth is always dry no matter how much water I drink and I just- I don't know how to get it back and-”

Tyler stops talking when Jamie puts his hand on his knee.

“We’ll figure it out, okay?”

Tyler smiles at him and wipes the tears from his eyes.

“Sorry, I’m being a big baby about this.”

“Are you still feeling tired? I could leave and take the dogs out.”

“No, I’ll go with you guys.”

Tyler pulls the covers off and stands up to go get ready.

It happens about a week later around midnight. They’re grinding against each other when Tyler starts feeling the shift. It starts with a flare in his back this time, then he can’t move his legs. And Jamie is talking to him, but all he can hear is his blood rushing and his bones cracking. He watches as his legs fuse together becoming one as the skin on his legs become scaly iridescent greens and blues and golds.

This time is more painful than the last. He feels out of breath, sweaty, and exhausted.

But the trouble doesn’t stop there. Suddenly he’s gasping for air. He’s trying to tell Jamie but he can’t get the words out.

He doesn’t remember how he got to the tub, but he feels like he can breathe a little bit better. But just a little bit.

“Thank fuck Tyler.” Jamie grabs his hands and clasps it. Kissing it roughly. “You were screaming and then gasping for air and I thought you were going to die on me or something.”

Tyler smiles up at him and blinks slowly. “I can’t explain it, but do you think you could take me to the ocean?”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.”

It takes a little bit because apparently Tyler weighs a lot more than he usually does, but they finally get to the car. Jamie gathers up as many towels as possible and wets them before he places them on top of Tyler.

Before Tyler can ask why, he says, “It’s a long drive.”

The drive is quiet. Tyler’s skin feels clammy, but cool thanks to the towels. He feels too drained to talk. He’s tired, but Jamie won’t let him sleep. It takes them just under four hours, and Jamie doesn’t stop talking for more than about five minutes. He smiles and listens as Jamie talks more than he’s ever talked since they've known each other. He likes this talkative side of Jamie.

“We’re here,” Jamie announces. He makes sure nobody else is around before he walks over to lift Tyler carefully out of the car, making sure to be extra careful that his fingers don't block Tyler’s gills.

Tyler wraps his arms around Jamie's neck and breathes in. “Thank... you.”

Jamie walks quietly for a while before he clears his throat and says, “So is this like it? Will I ever see you again?”

“What?” Tyler laughs but instantly regrets it and lets out a cough. For a moment, Tyler’s wheezing takes up the quiet before he begins to start speaking again. “Of course Jamie. My life is on land…. I couldn't… I couldn't dream of ever… of ever leaving you or Marshall or Cash or Gerry. And don't worry you’ll have time to put… to put a ring on my finger.”

Jamie lets out a laugh. “Yeah… ok, Tyler.”

Tyler hugs Jamie with as much strength as he has right now and watches the smile spread over Jamie’s face.

Jamie shivers as he walks knee-deep in the water. Tyler pulls Jamie close, catching him by the lips. “Okay, I’m ready. You … can drop me in.”

Jamie does what he’s told and lets Tyler go.

When Tyler is fully submerged into the water, he feels like he’s taking a breath that he hasn’t taken in forever. He feels himself getting stronger with each flick of his tail. Tyler’s amazed when he finds out that it’s now glowing in the water.

He comes back up to the surface and offers Jamie his hand.

“You’re crazy as fuck if you think I’m coming in there with you.”

Tyler gives “Oh come on baby, it’ll be fun.”

Jamie crosses his hands over his chest contemplating for a second and walks back onto shore. Tyler isn't expecting his boyfriend to strip down to his briefs and come back to him.

Tyler smirks up at him. “Looks like I’m crazy as fuck...”

“Mhmm, looks like you are.”

When Jamie is waist-deep, Tyler grabs his hand.

“I got you,” he says.

“You better.”

They get far enough out so the beach is tiny to them.

“Hold your breath, I want you to see something. Squeeze my arm if you need air.” Jamie nods and does what he’s told before they dip into the water. A school of fish swims above them. Oranges and yellows, blues, and greens fill their vision.

Tyler never in a million years would think he would experience something like this with Jamie.

He feels Jamie squeeze his arm and he swims them to the top as fast as he can. While Jamie catches his breath, Tyler holds him under his arms. For a long time, they just look at each other. For the first time that morning, Jamie is quiet.

“What are you thinking about?” Tyler asks.

“I love you so much.”

Tyler’s smile grows. “I love you too, Jamie. Thank you again for taking care of me.”

Jamie’s hand finds its way to the back of Tyler’s neck and he takes him in for a kiss.

Back when this had all happened the first time, the tail had made him sick and all he wanted was for it to be gone. But now, he realized that for the first time in a long time, Tyler feels good. His scales reflect the light and look beautiful. The blues look bluer and the greens look deeper. The gold pops more too.

He feels beautiful.

\-------

So now Tyler goes to the ocean so he doesn’t get a chance to feel that shitty ever again. He finds that the transformation is less painful in the water and also that the transformations sort of resets his body. He discovers that if he shifts at least every month or so, his body won't do it randomly, which he is relieved about. He can also control the shifts better now.

The saltwater pool Jamie and he got helps a lot. He still prefers the ocean, but it holds him over. Jamie sometimes swims with him while they're in the ocean.

They’ve seen a shark, jellyfish, starfish and so much more. Tyler even found Jamie a fork once as a joke. It is not sitting on their bookshelf at home. They even got a huge aquarium at home. Tyler has 6 out of 11 of the fish named already.

Tyler’s favorite thing to do is wrap his tail around his boyfriend and watch him relax in the water.

So this is Tyler’s life now. Fishtails and saltwater. But after everything that’s happened, he wouldn’t have it any other way.

Merman…

Yeah, that sounds nice.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to comment! I love them.


End file.
